Catching Attention and Peeked Curiosity
Disclaimer: Alright, alright. I'll do it. I..I...I.. deep breath I don't own Final Fantasy VII or its characters. So don't sue. Happy now?
Like I said, all characters aside from those present in the FFVII game are mine, all mine. Mainly Aries, her limit breaks, and her weapons, got it? MINE.
Oh and Xeledra, about your review. Aeris and Aries are two completely different girls, as you will see in this chapter. Hopefully. Thanks for the comment though. I hope that answers the other concerns as well.
blah blah thoughts
"blah blah" ... dialogue
Sephiroth and Zack arrived in the gym as the fight was about to begin.
Cameron smirked at Cloud and Aries. They've got to be pushovers. The guy looks so freakin' girly. "Sure you want to go through with this? You can always back out. We'll understand." Jason snickered at this.
Cloud glared. "Actually we were about to ask you the same question. It would be so embarrassing if you lost."
"And to a girl and a 'pretty boy', no less." Aries looked casually around and her sharp eyes spotted Sephiroth and Zack. Oh great. Just what we need, more attention. Discreetly, the taller blonde tried to get the boy's attention. Cloud!
Cloud caught on to the gestures of his friend and followed Aries' glance. He, too, saw them. Perfect. Two SOLDIERS. And First Class at that. The General and his second-in-command. Gotta make this quick. He was starting to have second thoughts. The General was watching. Not just any SOLDIER, but the 'King Pin' himself. How many days and nights went by with me wishing to just see him in person? He felt nervousness creep up on him. He didn't want to misbehave in front of Sephiroth. The older SOLDIER's opinion was crucial to the boy, irregardless of his own certainty that the General would hardly give him the time of day, much less care to form any sort of opinion about him. Just...pretend he's not there. Yeah, if I believe he's not there, his presence won't shake me up so bad, right? Somewhere within Cloud, he knew he was wrong. One does not just ignore the General. It wasn't possible to ignore the presence of someone so powerful...so beautiful. And make no mistake, the General was beautiful in every sense of the word. There probably wasn't a soul on the Planet or even in the Lifestream that would dare say otherwise.
Jason spoke, breaking up Cloud's thought patterns. "Before we do this, where are your weapons?"
Cloud walked off the mat and pulled out something from his bag from home. "I'll use this." It was a slim but sharp sword and about 5 feet long. The handle was tied in leather with designs barred into it. Father...
"And I'll use this." Aries also went to her own bag and pulled a sword. Though the sword was longer at 5 feet, 7 inches, the handle also had leather around it. It had a different design engraved, was double-edged, and very slender. Unlike Cloud, she had no idea where the sword came from. However, there was something about it. Something that had her convinced eyond a shadow of a doubt that this was hers. It was confusing, but she'd gotten passed that. Ignoring its unknown origins made it all easier.
Cameron and Jason had standard SOLDIER swords and could barely handle them due to lack of training and experience. Cloud and Aries, however, carried their swords and stood with no problems. Cloud almost rolled his eyes. "What? You two can't even handle standard swords?" You gotta be kidding me. The swords Aries and myself are carrying are way harder to handle than theirs. We should all be using those practice swords...the wooden ones. It's less dangerous and we'd all be less likely to get in so much trouble for it. The blond voiced none of this as he knew neither the other two, nor his own partner, even, would agree to it. Cameron and Jason would say they're scared- it was a matter of pride on that one. And Aries, well that fiery blonde would have none of it- she was very prideful and wouldn't do it.
Aries shook her head and mentally added, Kami, you're already idiots, but to be weak as well?
Cameron glared, his male pride wounded. "I'll show you!" He charged at Cloud with no real...stratedgy, for lack of a better word, to it. He was just blindly coming after him. Cloud sidestepped him and hit him in the back with his sword's handle. Not too hard, mind you, Cloud already knew that he'd get in trouble for this. I need to make this as...'clean' as possible. No need to make it all worse by drawing blood or maiming the poor fool. Cameron fell face-first onto the mat.
Aries was laughing and barely managed to jump back when Jason charged her. Sure, charge when I'm not looking why don't you? He swung the sword and almost lost grip. She laughed again and somersaulted over him as he swung again. Wide arcs were easy to evade. It was the small, calculated moves in between that made it difficult. Jason could be good, but didn't quite have the stamina to back it all up. Taking her sword, she fake-swiped at him and almost doubled-over in laughter as he freaked out and immediately went to protect himself. Unfortunately, his awkward hold on the sword made it easy to knock off as hers hit. Granted, you couldn't blame the poor guy. Aries pretended to swipe at a very compromising area.
CLANG
His sword flew out the mat's area. Cloud couldn't help but laugh as some cadets cleared the area when the sword flew by and nearly beheaded them. He ducked as Cameron tried to hit him with his sword. Of course, the key word here is try. Aries tilted her head as Jason tried to hit her without getting his head cut off. Apparently, he was doing his best to ignore the fact that he was trying to avoid being hit by a sword of about 5' 7". She hadn't meant to have his sword knocked out so early, but she remembered she had other things to do. Other, more important things. Like taking a walk or brushing her hair. Brushing my teeth could be more important right now. This is soooooo boring.
Cloud was also getting rather bored. The bullies back at home were harder to fight off than this. He took another glance to the concealed SOLDIERS and the oblivious cadets. Oh no, I forgot about them. I have to end this and get away. Far, far away...Now. Cloud mentally sighed as he knocked the sword out of Cameron's hands. It would have been easier if he wasn't so concerned with avoiding an incident which would involve hand amputation... Then again, Cameron had saved Cloud from that issue as he was more concerned with not getting his hands cut off than anything else. Thusly, the other boy simply let go as his sword was knocked out of the mat's area.
Aries saw Cloud's quick movement and took it as a signal to end it. Suddenly serious, Aries charged forward. Jason's eyes widened and he started to run. Backwards. He tripped over the mat's edge as Aries held her sword's tip to his throat. He looked up and smiled weakly. He's scared of me. ... The blonde girl wondered if that really was a good thing. "Heh heh, this was all Cameron's fault, you know. Uhhh, he started it remember? Not me." He looked up only to see Aries eyes and cold smirk. Sure, dump it all on your buddy. Coward. Scared brown eyes met darkly-amused amethysts. Her eyes narrowed as he tried to move. She didn't move out of her stance at all.
Cloud saw the end of Aries so-called match, but had missed his pleading. The training gym had become fairly loud with all the cadets' enthusiastic cheering. His own blue eyes caught Cameron's prideful, but scared black ones. He wasn't willing to surrender the easy way, so Cloud figured they would do this the hard way. Cloud moved forward as Cameron just concentrated on evading Cloud's attacks. He was fine until Cloud sped up a little and passed him. Cloud somersaulted into the air and above Cameron. Just like jumping those tall, creepy gates back home... Cameron couldn't turn around fast enough and let out an awkward squeak as he fell onto his back. That had to sting his pride, as it had been a very unmanly squeak. The laughs echoeing around them told him as much. Coincidentally, Cameron landed right beside Jason. Cloud held his sword's tip to Cameron's throat. Icy sapphire and amethyst stared down at defeated brown and black.
Cloud smirked. "Match over." Shiva, we're too late! We can't get away from those SOLDIERs now.. Never had Cloud thought that he would want to get away from the General. Not so badly, anyway.
Aries tilted her head again, either oblivious to or ignoring Cloud's shift in stance. "I guess we get to stay, ne Cloud?" She did take notice to their walking problems, being two SOLDIERs heading right for them, when her partner did not answer her with neither a short comment nor a quiet laugh.
Zack pushed forward practically dragging a protesting Sephiroth. Well, one couldn't really tell that Zack was dragging the General, nor could it be discerned that said silver-haired General was protesting. It looked more like Sephiroth walking with a closely-following Zack behind him. Only, Zack was really close behind. The tanned man was discreetly pushing Sephiroth forward. The other man was actually intending to leave, no longer caring to interfere. Truth be told, he had changed his mind on the way down, saying that he did not want nor care to bother himself with the petty affairs of cadets. Zack insisted and persisted until Sephiroth caved. In actuality, he'd talked the man to death right there in the hall. Sephiroth had come along to shut the other man up. He had still wanted to leave later, however curious he might have been about the swords the two blondes had wielded. Stubborn little devil. I know he's curious, by the Planet, I've known him long enough to read that, so why does he even bother pretending with me. He could read his friend's surprise, however slight it seemed to be, at the blonde's skills as well. But then again their opponents were pathetic.
They got over there quickly as the cadets practically fell over themselves to move out of the way. Sephiroth resisted the urge to snap at their admiring and awe-struck gazes. Shiva, I hate that look. And he did. The man known as the General of SOLDIER couldn't stand those hero-worshipping looks. The ones that gazed at him and put him on a pedestal, as if he were some sort of god. Those looks often reverted to those cold-calulating looks, the ones given to peculiar specimens.. He remembered those looks from so long ago.. Not that long ago it seems... He saw that look just last week. He saw it every week, in fact. And he hated it. Granted, Sephiroth wasn't modest enough to deny his own attractiveness, but he wasn't arrogant enough to think his looks would warrant the utterly nerve-grating gazes of complete adoration. Sometimes, the only Potentials I see here are potential stalkers...
Sephiroth cleared his throat and Zack stood up straight. Cameron and Jason looked at them and relief flooded into them. Cameron thought to himself. Thank the Planet! They'll save us from these two for sure. Jason had the same thoughts. Indeed, Cloud and Aries appeared to be the party in the wrong as they were standing with swords to another's throat.
"And that is a battle." Sephiroth turned to the still awe-struck cadets. They nodded, of course, and waited for him to say something else. However, Sephiroth had no intention of any such thing. The air was tense with the following silence.
"More like a sparring match, if not a scramble," Zack said. The cadets laughed in agreement; Zack had successfully cleared the tension. Now that's better. I swear Sephiroth, you do things like this on purpose. He walked over to Cloud and Aries, raising their arms with his own. "I give you, your winners!" More laughter and the cadets clapped.
Sephiroth shook his head at his best friend's antics. Just to touch them no doubt.
Cloud and Aries looked at each other and blinked. They then proceeded to stare at Zack as if he'd gone mad. Aries again tilted her head, confused. Is this guy crazy? Cloud continued to stare, blankly at that, and cocked an eyebrow.
Sephiroth looked down at the still-pinned cadets. They no longer thought they were going to be 'rescued'. Sephiroth studied the defeated cadets. Jason was a brunette with matching deep brown eyes. His hair was cut short. He was about 5' 7" and decently built. Cameron was also a brunette, but with raven black eyes; almost as dark as Zack's hair. His hair was cut close, almost bald. He was about 5' 8" and had a build slightly bigger than Jason's. Both wore the standard cadet uniforms.
Standard ShinRa uniforms were just that, standard. Navy blue pants that weren't quite jeans, but made of a closely related material. There was a matching navy blue top slightly lighter than the pants. The cadets' last names were written across the top left of it and there was also a patch that would soon say what squad they were in. Pins for advanced students in academics would be on the right shoulder and the number would tell what level they were on as far as combat went. Patches were put on the back to tell their area of specialty; physics, materia, swordsmanship, gun handling, Mako, etc.
He turned his eyes to study the two victorious blondes. Cloud stood at a rather short height of 5' 5" with wildly spiked blonde hair. About as tamed as Zack's... Some of it fell forward over wide, somewhat child-like ocean blue eyes. He had a slender build laced with grace. A tad effeminate, but then again, Sephiroth was the last one to comment on effeminate appearances. Unfortunately for Cloud, he wasn't quite at that stage where his manliness could go unquestioned. A bit of a stronger build or maybe a more aggressive aura would do it. He was still holding his sword at Cameron's throat with an elegant blonde eyebrow arched in Zack's direction. The SOLDIER had put their arms down, but was loudly asking them questions that they either would or wouldn't answer. More often than not, the girl answered as the boy remained silent. It looked like a seminar for the other cadets.
Sephiroth gave a virtually invisible smile at his friend. Or he would have, had he not been in public- in his 'General mode'. Presently, his face was expressionless as ever. His friend was strange, Sephiroth had always thought so, but hey, that's Zack for you. And I wouldn't have him any other way. Sephiroth then moved his sights to the girl called Aries. She stood at a good 5' 7". Taller than the boy? He shook his head. She, too, had a slender build with equal grace and a lithe frame. But that was okay this time around, as Aries was very much a girl. Though her prideful, aggressive nature seemed to be enough for one to wonder. Her long blonde hair was up in a high ponytail with strands falling out. Some her hair also fell over her eyes, which were a beautiful violet color. Said violets showed some confusion, curiosity even. Most likely due to Zack's antics. He confuses me too, Aries, all the time. He looked at her some more and noticed that her sword also remained at Jason's throat. Sephiroth had caught the blondes' attention- for staring so long- and spoke to cover it up, "Might I suggest that you remove your swords? I believe that they understand a loss."
Cloud and Aries blinked as they slowly removed their swords. They had no sheaths on them, so the swords simply hung at their sides, mostly laying on the floor. Cameron and Jason scrambled to their feet and wisely stayed away from Cloud and Aries. Some cadets snickered at their 'spooked' expressions. Cloud and Aries shook their heads and went to get their bags on the other side.
Sephiroth and Zack exchanged glances, silently promising each other that they'd discuss what to do about Cloud and Aries later. Zack coughed and got the cadets' attention. "Ahem. Yeah, alright show's over. Come on people, get back to what you were doing." The cadets groaned, not wanting to go back to training and exercise after something so exciting as a fight. "Yeah, yeah, break's over. Get back to training." Zack was moving to get the cadets started, but Sephiroth beat him to it. That left Zack to what he knew Sephiroth was avoiding. Getting answers. Zack sighed and glared at an amused Sephiroth as he waved at Zack. Hah hah. Fine time for you to get a sense of humor. Zack started over to where the two blondes went, only to find them gone.
"How did they...?" Zack looked around and found no sign of blondes or the bags they went to get. Sephiroth stepped behind him, having made short work of getting the cadets back into training, and inquired what the problem happened to be this time.
"They're gone."
Sephiroth arched a silver eyebrow. "What do you mean 'they're gone'?"
Zack sighed. "They. Are. Gone. As in no longer here, as in I can't find them or their stuff anywhere."
Sephiroth blew out a breath. "Great. There's not a doubt in my mind that they're still here somewhere. Not only that but some cadet, some idiot, will spill what's happened here and you know what that means..."
Zack groaned, following the silver-haired warrior's train of thought. "Oh no...someone up top's going to want answers."
"From who?"
"From us." Zack replied dutifully.
"And guess what?" Sephiroth continued.
Zack put his hand to his forehead. "We don't have any answers."
"And then?"
Zack rubbed his head in anticipation of a lovely headache for the day. "We'll be told to go get those answers and/or bring them to said people up top. Not to mention how good they look, meaning this could get very personal for Cloud and Aries. And very ugly for us poor go-betweens."
Sephiroth crinkled his nose a little. "This could, no, will get ugly. And on top of it all, I have the feeling that retrieving any answers will not be an easy task. Nor will it be a pleasant one."
I love it when his nose crinkles like that. Zack sighed and looked up. "By Holy, why us? Forget getting answers, we can't even find them! They could be anywhere now. As cadets, the only place they really should be is here." He paused. "Or the library for their studies." Another pause. "Or in class." Yet another pause. "Or sleeping somewhere." Guess what? "Or training in another facility." This is going to harder than I thought. "Or--"
Sephiroth held up a hand, indicating that that was enough. This will be days of many headaches. I can alreayd tell. "Enough Zack, I get the point."
The two friends and SOLDIERS looked to each, shook their heads, and moved out of the cadets' gym to search for the elusive blondes.
Little did they know that the two had never left the gym. Calm, calculating sapphire and suspicious amethyst had been watching and sharp ears picked up every word. "They're right Aries. This could get ugly." Cloud turned to the girl. How could we get in so much trouble, so soon anyways?
Aries was lost in thought for a few moments. "Then we'll just have to deal with it. We'll handle whatever is thrown at us, but let's anything that isn't necessary okay?" She had heard things...about certain people here. I will keep my promise to Mother..
Cloud nodded, unaware of Aries' somewhat troubled thoughts. "Guess we'll have to act as if we don't know what's going on either." Aries and Cloud moved from the shadows and continued training with each other amongst the other cadets.
They felt themselves being watched, but ignored it. They would regret that later, as they have always been guided well by their instincts. Then they would have picked up the eyes watching them and most likely their conversation. "Yeah Adam that's them."
Adam, unseen in the shadows, smirked. "They're pretty. And strong, too, I guess. The boss would love to meet them." The other two shadows shuddered at the thought of what their boss would want to do to or with the blondes. But...that's the way it goes here, one of the boys thought to himself.
K. That's all for now. Review please!!!!
Ja ne, minnas!